England edge out impressive Haiti

Georgia Stanway penalty proves decisive in Group D encounter.

England 1-0 Haiti | Group D
Goalscorers: Georgia Stanway (29′)

European champions England kicked off their FIFA Women’s World Cup™ campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 win over a hugely impressive Haiti side in Brisbane.

A dramatic passage of play midway through the first half led to England going in front. A penalty was awarded – following a VAR check ­– for a handball by Haiti’s Batcheba Louis. Stanway’s spot-kick was athletically saved by Kerly Theus, only for it to emerge the Haiti stopper had strayed off her line. The Bayern Munich star made no mistake at the second time of asking, slotting into the bottom-left corner.

While England enjoyed most of the possession, Haiti were carrying a significant threat themselves, with the outstanding Melchie Dumornay mesmerising the Brisbane crowd with her skill, touch and ingenuity.

The Women’s World Cup debutantes had a golden chance to level just before half-time but Roselord Borgella was unable to get the required connection on her header from six yards out.

Dumornay went close shortly after the break, with her rising shot forcing Earps into a fine one-handed stop. Haiti’s poise, tenacity and ambition continued to catch the eye, and they thought their moment had come when Roseline Eloissaint found space 12 yards from goal and let fly with a low drive.

Earps showed why she is the reigning Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper, however, by superbly saving with her out-stretched left boot as England claimed victory.

Key stat
England have won six Women’s World Cup group-stage matches in a row since a 1-0 defeat against France in their opening fixture in 2015.

VISA Player of the Match
Georgia Stanway (England)

Quotes
It was a very hard game. They [Haiti] were very unpredictable, very transitional. That’s what they showed and we struggled with that. We did create chances but we lost the ball and then they were gone. That was hard for us. We want to finish our chances. We did it with the penalty which was good because the win is the most important thing.
Sarina Weigman, England coach

They challenged us. They were very dangerous on the counter attack, that is something we will work on now in training. Mary came up with a big save and everyone played their part. For the penalty, I was just focused on the ball, focused on the situation and blocked out everything. The first one was a very good save, so credit for the save but she was off her line. There’s a process I go through and I just stuck to that.
Georgia Stanway, England goalscorer

I’m really tired but we’re really proud of what we’ve achieved – of our good performance. Having said that, we lost on small details. We’ll keep on working for the next match. We regret not being able to finish our chances. We’ll have to be more clinical in the next match.
Melchie Dumornay, Haiti midfielder